The Death of the Stars
This fanfic is written by Anti. Please do not use the characters or universe without permission! (Any fanart accepted XP) =Prologue= The sky was a deep blue with shining galaxies of green the night of the Weakening. The cat made of stars stared at the glowing and wriggling Aurora Barrier. The fluffy cat twitched his whiskers. "You know it's weakened." A cat behind him said. It was not posed as a question. "Yes. Do you know why?" He replied, still gazing steadily at the Barrier. "I presume it's because―" The ground shook as a huge boom radiated from the other side. The Barrier dimmed slightly. "―of that. The Dark Forest is restless. They want out." "Indeed." He hesitated, and looked back at the white she-cat. "Don't you dare!" She hissed. "No cat would ask you to do that!" "But I have to." He said softly, blinking kindly at her. "No you don't!" Her voice broke, blinking away starry tears. "StarClan could never replace you, Wispstar!" "Nor they you, Lightriver," he said, gazing at her steadily, although his eyes held overwhelming pain. His silver and grey fur glistened in the green and purple light. "You're worth far more to them than I am." Lightriver let out an agonized wail of pure pain and grief. Wispstar blinked away tears. "I'm.. sorry...." He whispered. Wispstar whirled around and raced at the Barrier. Yowls and caterwauls greeted him from the other side. He hurled himself into the Aurora Barrier. He exploded like a supernova, sparks flying, then in a blinding flash of white light, he was gone. The Barrier rippled, wobbled, then strengthened, holes filling, shining brighter. Lightriver sobbed, sinking into a crouch onto the ground. Other StarClan cats who were alarmed by the flash stalked forward, eyes flashing. When they saw Lightriver they knew what had happened. Wails and sobs filled the air as they surrounded Lightriver. Somewhere, in the mortal world, a star winked out. =Chapter One= Darkness Servalkit sat staring at the sky, staring as a star's shine was swiftly silenced. She felt a strange emptiness seep through her pelt and into her soul. A.. star... dying? No. The emptiness turned to a hollow feeling. No. She felt sick. No. StarClan cats couldn't die. This shouldn't be possible. She whimpered, and ran to the medicine cat's den. "Silentmist! Silentmist!" She cried, stumbling into the den. Tears smudged her orange fur. She was trembling. "Silentmist?" Her voice cracked. "Yes dear? I'm here, I'm here. Don't worry darling," Silentmist murmured, bringing Servalkit close her her, wrapping her sleek tail around the kit. "It's okay. It's okay. We're okay." "Do you know what happened?" Servalkit asked once she was calmed down more. "I had a feeling." Replied Silentmist, stroking the shivering kit with her tail. "Can you tell me what you know?" "Y-Yeah. The Aurora Barrier is- was weakened. A cat sacrificed themselves to keep the Dark Forest from s-spilling in. They-they're gone. Dead. They are the Barrier now. Their a-awareness spread across the Barrier. Eternal ag-agony." Servalkit gave a soft sob. "Oh, poor dear." Sighed Silentmist. "Do you know who this poor soul was?" "Wispstar," her voice was barely audible, filled with pain. "Oh no. Dear!" She cried, hugging the kit tighter. After a moment of silence, Silentmist said, "You know you have a gift Servalkit." "I guess." Servalkit said, shifting her weight on her paws uncomfortably. Changing the subject, Silentmist asked, "Do you want to help me sort herbs?" "Yeah." They worked silently on the task, grim but determined. Never give up, little kit. Silentmist told Servalkit silently. Never give up. When they were done, wordlessly, they both climbed into the medicine cat's nest. This was not unusual, the kit had a tight bond with the medicine cat that couldn't be easily shaken. Every cat in the clan knew this, so there would be no concern when the morning came. The dawn's light filtered through the heather in the WindClan medicine cat's den. Both the kit and the medicine cat stirred, lifting their heads groggily. Gently, Silentmist maneuvered around the kit so she didn't disturb Servalkit as she got up. Silentmist busied herself with arranging some spiderwebs that were scattered on the heather branches that made up part of the wall. Hearing the warriors and queens stirring, she padded out into the center of the camp, awaiting the leader and Servalkit’s parents. Servalkit was almost six moons now. It was time to confront them with the facts. She studied the sloping walls of the camp with detached interest. She’d looked at them so many times but seemingly every time she discovered something new. This time, a gleaming white pebble. She considered it for a moment, then dismissed it as Quailstar strolled out of his den. The pale orange tabby seemed to study her, a vague look of fear in his eyes, then he came over to her. “Something’s wrong,” he said immediately. She nodded. “I know. Let’s get some fresh-kill and go to your den.” “Alright.” After they picked up their fresh-kill, they walked into the privacy of his den. “So,” Silentmist began, picking at her thrush. “Tell me what’s wrong.” “I.. I think a StarClan cat died. Other than that, nothing.” She nodded sadly. “Wispstar. He was a great leader.” She paused. “But you know who told me that?” He shook his head. “No.” “Servalkit.” His eyes widened. =Chapter Two= Beginnings It was a crisp and clear dawn. The sky was ablaze with reds and oranges. Quailstar stood upon Tallrock, silhouetted by the rising sun, having called WindClan to a meeting. Servalkit felt a tingle of excitement start at the tips of her toes. Her mother’s tongue rasped against the top of her head in a last-minute cleaning. “Good luck, sweetheart.” Her mother whispered, then pushed her forward. “Servalkit, come forward.” Quailstar boomed, his voice carrying through the camp clearly. She eagerly scampered forward, pelt quivering a little with excitement. “Servalkit,” he continued once she reached the bottom of the rock. “You have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Servalpaw.” He took a breath. “Your mentor will be Silentmist. I hope Silentmist will pass down all she knows on to you.” Barely able to walk like the dignified she-cat she was, Servalpaw nearly bounced over to Silentmist and touched noses with her. “Servalpaw! Servalpaw! Servalpaw!” The Clan chanted, then they all went over to congratulate Servalpaw on her achievement. All the warriors and other apprentices seemed to blur past her. She felt a stupidly big grin on her face. When the last well-wisher went to their duties, Servalpaw saw Silentmist standing there, an expectant look on her face. “Don’t expect me to go easy on you just because we’re close, Servalpaw.” Silentmist said, a little sternly. Servalpaw was a little taken aback. “O-of course not! None of the warrior apprentices get easy training, I wasn’t expecting any different being a medicine cat. We are the ones that have to listen to them whine about not being able to fight when they’re injured, after all!” Silentmist laughed. “That’s the spirit! Now, come with me and I’ll show you the territory. We’ll go see the lake first.” Servalpaw bounded along as Silentmist pointed out fresh newleaf herbs, some Servalpaw had never seen before because she had been born in leafbare. “That’s burdock root. It’s hard to find during the winter because the stem can sometimes die or get covered in snow. It grows closer to the border we share with ThunderClan.” Servalpaw nodded, and they continued. Then she saw the lake. Servalpaw gasped, staring at the wide expanse of blue water. The sun reflected, and the last remnants of the sunrise painted the lake in beautiful reds, oranges, and yellows. Pink clouds that floated in the sky rippled in the lake too, seemingly riding the tiny waves. “It’s so big!” Silentmist laughed. “It is, isn’t it? Sometimes it takes new eyes to appreciate what we take for granted.” Servalpaw was too absorbed in the sight to pay much attention to what Silentmist said, but she would later go through it and ponder those words. They turned and headed back from the ThunderClan border, and headed to the RiverClan one. “ShadowClan cats used to share a border with us back in the old forest, they were our worst of rivals. They raided us and we raided them many a time. We were both always looking for an excuse to be at each other’s throats. It was hard for the medicine cats of old to keep up with all the injuries.” Silentmist commented. “Now RiverClan takes their place, although they are more peaceful. And for that, I am grateful.” Servalpaw nodded in silent agreement, and wondered briefly about what it would be like. Constantly running out of herbs, having to convince warriors that they were too injured to go out to battle even more often, the bodies of apprentices that weren’t strong or skilled enough, that died on their first battle…. She shivered. I’m sure glad I didn’t have to live in that time. It sounds.. scary. They saw the Horseplace, then headed back to camp. It was sunhigh by the time they returned. “Wow!” Servalpaw huffed. “Our territory is huge!” Silentmist just smiled and led Servalpaw into the medicine cat den. “This is where you’ll sleep from now on.” She said, gesturing to the nest. “I suggest you go get a bit of fresh kill, and then we’ll test your knowledge of herbs.” Silentmist made a silencing gesture with her tail as Servalpaw opened her mouth to speak. “Yes, yes. You learned when you were a kit. But now you really need to know it. It can be the difference between life and death for a cat.” Servalpaw nodded, then went off to get fresh kill. =Chapter Three= Moonpool Coming soon. ---- To be continued. Category:Fanfiction Category:In progress Category:Death of the Stars Universe